Blog Posts
Lazarus bread rolls are traditional in many Greek parishes to celebrate Christ's resurrection of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. If you’ll look at an icon of Christ calling Lazarus from the tomb, you’ll see that little strips of dough have been wrapped around the central body of the roll to resemble the wrappings of his shroud. Traditionally, you also press into one end of the dough two whole cloves, raisins, or chocolate chips to resemble his eyes. (Some people substitute a single peeled almond for his face instead.)
2022 was the year we decided to see just how far we could go with virtually no staff and a shoestring budget. We ended up with a vastly expanded network, events of many kinds, and a board that increased in number, scope, and expertise. Follow this link to see where we went and where we're going!
Sharing one of our favorite sermons ever, on St. Mary of Egypt., by Nadieszda Kizenko as part of Fordham University's Orthodox Scholars Preach series.
One of the things that people don’t say much about Lent is how many of our practices are really about connecting us–to our inner selves, to God, and to our community. That turned out to be one of my main takeaways from our Sunday webinar, led by Phoebe Farag Mikhail, content creator, writer, educator, trainer, advocate, and education diplomat. She clearly drew on her experience in church community life, family life, international development, education, human rights, and disaster risk management in the writing of the book she spoke about, Putting Joy Into Practice, which you’ve been seeing us blog about over the last four weeks (thanks, Judith, Jen, Amber, and Tenbit!).
The last in our series of reflections on the book on which our upcoming webinar is based, by Axia board member Tenbit Mitiku:
“Repentance makes room for joy within us” –Phoebe Farag Mikhail
Nearly half-way into Phoebe Farag Mikhail’s gentle guidebook, “Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift your Spirit from the Early Church” is a chapter on repentance. And about half-way into that chapter I set down the book. Something was snagging at the corner of my mind, flapping in the wind of introspection her words had provoked.
Phoebe Farag Mikhail offers us a book, Putting Joy into Practice, that is like a warm blanket to hold onto as we journey through Lent. During those moments when I feel myself turning to anxiety or fear, her words comfort and redirect me so that I stay in touch with joy, love, compassion, and–the true meaning of Lent for me–connecting to God.